Devices for reading or writing electromagnetic information include a wafer substrate piece disposed between an electromagnetic transducer and an electrostrictive or piezoelectric actuator. The substrate piece is shaped as a rigid body adjoining the transducer and as a flexible element connecting the body and the actuator. To fabricate, at least one electrostrictive layer and many transducers are formed on opposite sides of a wafer that is then cut into rows containing plural transducers. The rows are processed from directions generally normal to the wafer surface upon which the transducers were formed, by removing material to form a head, flexures and a media-facing surface on the head. Conductive leads are formed on a back surface of flexures connecting the transducer with drive electronics. The flexures are aligned with forces arising from interaction with the media surface and from seeking various tracks, reducing torque and dynamic instabilities and increasing actuator access time.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A device configured for attachment to an actuator, the device comprising: a wafer substrate piece holding a microactuator and an electromagnetic transducer, the wafer substrate piece including a head portion, a base portion and a plurality of elements connecting the head portion and the base portion, the head portion having a rigid body holding the transducer on a trailing end, the elements being more flexible than the rigid body and separated from each other in a lateral direction by the head portion, the microactuator adapted to move the head in the lateral direction, wherein the elements each include a piezoelectric layer.
2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the elements each extend furthest in a direction substantially perpendicular to the lateral direction.
3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the microactuator includes a piezoelectric layer.
4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the base portion includes a piezoelectric layer.
5. The device of claim 1 , wherein a substantially U-shaped aperture is disposed between the head portion, the base portion and the plurality of elements.
6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the microactuator includes a plurality of piezoelectric layers separated from each other by an electrically conductive layer, each of the piezoelectric layers having a thickness in a range between about one micron and ten microns.
7. A device configured for attachment to an actuator, the device comprising: a first wafer substrate portion including a rigid head, the head having a trailing end holding an electromagnetic transducer; a second, substantially U-shaped wafer substrate portion including a base and a pair of elements that are attached to the base and more flexible than the head, the elements being attached to the head and separated from each other in a lateral direction by the head; and a microactuator attached to the second wafer substrate portion, the microactuator adapted to move the head in the lateral direction.
8. The device of claim 7 , wherein the elements each extend furthest in a direction substantially perpendicular to the lateral direction.
9. The device of claim 7 , wherein the trailing end is disposed between the elements.
10. The device of claim 7 , wherein the microactuator includes a piezoelectric layer.
11. The device of claim 7 , wherein the microactuator includes an electrically conductive layer.
12. The device of claim 7 , wherein the microactuator includes a plurality of piezoelectric layers separated from each other by an electrically conductive layer, each of the piezoelectric layers having a thickness in a range between about one micron and ten microns.
13. A device configured for attachment to an actuator, the device comprising: a head including a rigid substrate having a leading end and a trailing end, the trailing end holding a plurality of transducer layers; and a microactuator including a base portion attached to a pair of elongate elements, each of the elongate elements including a plurality of piezoelectric layers, each of the piezoelectric layers being disposed between a plurality of electrically conductive layers and having a thickness that is in a range between about one micron and ten microns, the elongate elements separated from each other in a lateral direction that is parallel to the transducer layers, wherein the microactuator is adapted to move the head in the lateral direction.
14. The device of claim 13 , wherein each of the elongate elements is attached to the head at a location that is closer to the trailing end than to the leading end.
15. The device of claim 13 , wherein each of the elongate elements extends furthest in a direction substantially perpendicular to the lateral direction.
16. The device of claim 13 , wherein the elongate elements are separated from each other in the lateral direction by the head.
17. The device of claim 13 , the microactuator is substantially U-shaped.
18. The device of claim 13 , wherein a substantially U-shaped aperture is disposed between the base portion, the elongate elements and the head.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
February 6, 2012
April 30, 2013
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